Bradley: Pacquiao remains an icon

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In the eyes of Tim Bradley, Manny Pacquiao remains a marquee name as the unbeaten US fighter said over the weekend that he is not bothered at all by the big disparity in their purses.

“He is the superstar and he is the icon, the legend. He is still the top dog,” said Bradley in an interview by the Bulletin.

Tim Bradley

Top Rank chief Bob Arum has guaranteed Pacquiao a $20 million payday, while Bradley gets $5 million in their 12-round battle for Bradley’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown set on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“It is what it is. There’s nothing I can do about it,” said the 30-year-old Bradley, who was the recipient of a split decision win the first time he met the fighting Filipino congressman in June 2012.

Bradley and Pacquiao are going to see each other on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) when they appear in a press conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.

After their appearance in Hollywood, they will head to New York for a similar gig on Thursday with Arum holding court anew.

Pacquiao remains the betting favorite but Bradley believes the second meeting will be his opportunity to prove everyone that he deserved the decision the last time.

“I am just happy to get this chance to fight Manny again. I will make it official (this time) to erase it on people’s minds.”

Bradley said he has become an even more formidable foe this time as he had racked up a couple of hard-fought matches against Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez.

“I am much tougher now,” Bradley said on the strength of his gutsy performance against Provodnikov and his eye-popping showing against Marquez, who was then coming off the massive sixth-round smackdown of Pacquiao.